Can Someone PLEASE Help Me With DVC!

I am sure these questions have been asked numerous times and I have looked through this thread/stickies and on the official DVC website and still confused...

1. I am looking into buying a resale(Boardwalk or Beach Club).Most listings are for 150pts. With looking at the chart..If I wanted to do 2 vacations a yr at Boardwalk(1 week each) I would need 156pts(for the months I travel). Can I buy the additional pts?

2. Where Do I even begin to buy a DVC??

3. After I buy, how soon can I go on vacation?

4. What is this use year stuff?? If I officially take ownership in October..Is my year, Oct. 2013-Oct. 2014?

5. Dues are always due on Jan 1 though right?

6. Can you finance?

7. I have heard of having 2 "Home" Resorts, How do you do this?

8. What is the advantage of buying at your "Home" Resort? I know you can book a room at your home resort before anyone else, but is it worth it? Is it better to buy at a less expensive resort for more points and use the pts at my intended to stay at hotel?

9. Is point value the same at your home resort and other resorts? Like If my home is beach club, would my beach club pts be less valuable at BLT(ex. 2 beach club pts = 1 BLT pt)

1. I am looking into buying a resale(Boardwalk or Beach Club).Most listings are for 150pts. With looking at the chart..If I wanted to do 2 vacations a yr at Boardwalk(1 week each) I would need 156pts(for the months I travel). Can I buy the additional pts? Yes. DVC sells additional one-time use points for $15 each. Or you could get a transfer from another member.

2. Where Do I even begin to buy a DVC??

3. After I buy, how soon can I go on vacation? As soon as your deal closes and you get your membership number if you are buying a loaded contract.

4. What is this use year stuff?? If I officially take ownership in October..Is my year, Oct. 2013-Oct. 2014?

5. Dues are always due on Jan 1 though right? Yes BUT you can pay the dues in monthly installments.

6. Can you finance? You can if you buy direct from Disney - not sure about the resale market

7. I have heard of having 2 "Home" Resorts, How do you do this? You buy two different contracts. You then would have the 11-month booking window at two different resorts.

8. What is the advantage of buying at your "Home" Resort? I know you can book a room at your home resort before anyone else, but is it worth it? Is it better to buy at a less expensive resort for more points and use the pts at my intended to stay at hotel? Always buy where you want to stay.

9. Is point value the same at your home resort and other resorts? Like If my home is beach club, would my beach club pts be less valuable at BLT(ex. 2 beach club pts = 1 BLT pt) No your points are your points. However, the points charts vary between DVCs. So while a week at the Boardwalk might cost 150 points, that same week at BLT might be 165.

10. Has anyone ever used your pts to stay at non DVC resorts? Ex. Polynesian?? It's possible, but it's not a good use of your points at all.

I am sure these questions have been asked numerous times and I have looked through this thread/stickies and on the official DVC website and still confused...

1. I am looking into buying a resale(Boardwalk or Beach Club).Most listings are for 150pts. With looking at the chart..If I wanted to do 2 vacations a yr at Boardwalk(1 week each) I would need 156pts(for the months I travel). Can I buy the additional pts?

2. Where Do I even begin to buy a DVC??

3. After I buy, how soon can I go on vacation?

4. What is this use year stuff?? If I officially take ownership in October..Is my year, Oct. 2013-Oct. 2014?

5. Dues are always due on Jan 1 though right?

6. Can you finance?

7. I have heard of having 2 "Home" Resorts, How do you do this?

8. What is the advantage of buying at your "Home" Resort? I know you can book a room at your home resort before anyone else, but is it worth it? Is it better to buy at a less expensive resort for more points and use the pts at my intended to stay at hotel?

9. Is point value the same at your home resort and other resorts? Like If my home is beach club, would my beach club pts be less valuable at BLT(ex. 2 beach club pts = 1 BLT pt)

I am sure I have a million more questions, But I would appreciate any answers received. THANK YOU!!!!!

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1. You can buy up to 25 points in a use year to complete a vacation. There are requirements to be met, but i'm not sure what they are.

2. Either Direct through Disney or Resale...Read through the DIS and you'll find lots of information

3. As soon as your points are entered into Disney's system, you can book at your home resort 11 months out, other Disney resorts at 7 months out.

4. Each contract will have a use year. They are already assigned. You have to do research and find the right contract that meets your needs. There are threads here that help people determine use year.

5. Yes, Dues are to be paid a the same time each year, regardless of purchase date. I believe they're paid in January.

6. Yes, you can finance a resale, but there are few places that will finance a timeshare. Check out the Timeshare Store... They'll have information.
You can also finance through Disney if buying Direct.

7. You can have 2 home resorts by having separate contracts for each resort.

8. It's always suggested that you buy where you would want to stay.

9. A point is a point, regardless of where that point came from.

10. If you are purchasing a resale contract, you will not have the opportunity to use points for a non-dvc stay , ex. polynesian. If you buy Direct, you can use points to stay, but there are additional charges involved, and the point prices are quite expensive.

Hope these answers help a little. There are more experienced members on the boards here that can give more exact information. Just remember to be specific with your questions. Many in the know here will offer great advice.

Edit to add: There are restrictions (as you may have noticed) in buying a resale contract.

8. What is the advantage of buying at your "Home" Resort? I know you can book a room at your home resort before anyone else, but is it worth it? Is it better to buy at a less expensive resort for more points and use the pts at my intended to stay at hotel?

9. Is point value the same at your home resort and other resorts? Like If my home is beach club, would my beach club pts be less valuable at BLT(ex. 2 beach club pts = 1 BLT pt)

I do not own DVC, but have thought about it for a number of years.
Items 2 & 9 - I look at resellers like the Timeshare store and Fidelity, they have listings and the asking price. Timeshare store has point charts for each resort as well, run various scenarios to see how many points you'd need at various resorts.
Item 10 - I believe that resale buyers cannot use points to stay at non DVC WDW resorts, direct buyers still can, I think. The rules about all this changed in 2011, and resale buyers lost some trading privilages they had previously enjoyed (not being able to use points for cruises is the one I remember the most - existing resale owners where grandfathered in at the time.)
Item 8 - When the 2011 restrictions occurred, there where rumours that resale buyers would be restricted to only staying at their home resort (ie: not be able to book other WDW DVC units,) these rumours surface occassionally, thus I would not personally buy at a place where I did not want to stay, too much risk, IMO, but I am, by nature, a very cautious person.

Thank you everyone for your responses! I know absolutely nothing about this I just returned from WDW less than a week ago and DYING to go back! I figured if we had a DVC it would be more reasonable to go more than once a year. For DVC resorts, I like BWV and BCV so I would have to buy a resale. With that being said...Maybe I should hold out for the GFV.

I am sure these questions have been asked numerous times and I have looked through this thread/stickies and on the official DVC website and still confused...

1. I am looking into buying a resale(Boardwalk or Beach Club).Most listings are for 150pts. With looking at the chart..If I wanted to do 2 vacations a yr at Boardwalk(1 week each) I would need 156pts(for the months I travel). Can I buy the additional pts?

2. Where Do I even begin to buy a DVC??

3. After I buy, how soon can I go on vacation?

4. What is this use year stuff?? If I officially take ownership in October..Is my year, Oct. 2013-Oct. 2014?

5. Dues are always due on Jan 1 though right?

6. Can you finance?

7. I have heard of having 2 "Home" Resorts, How do you do this?

8. What is the advantage of buying at your "Home" Resort? I know you can book a room at your home resort before anyone else, but is it worth it? Is it better to buy at a less expensive resort for more points and use the pts at my intended to stay at hotel?

9. Is point value the same at your home resort and other resorts? Like If my home is beach club, would my beach club pts be less valuable at BLT(ex. 2 beach club pts = 1 BLT pt)

I am sure I have a million more questions, But I would appreciate any answers received. THANK YOU!!!!!

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#1 Yes, you can buy up to 24 additional on-time-use points per year to fill out a reservation. However they can only be purchased at the 7 month mark. They cost $15 per point.

#2 You can buy direct from Disney or you can buy resale. The Timeshare Store at the top of this page is a board sponsor, check out their listings. There are a couple other reputable resale companies also.

#3 You can book a vacation as soon as you recieve your points. Buying direct from Disney you can get your points immediately, buying resale takes 60 days or longer but the savings are worth the wait.

#4 Use Year is simply when you recieve your yearly allotment of points. It also determines your banking deadline. I have a Feb UY and I have to have unused points banked by Sept 30 for instance.

#5 MF's are due Jan 15 every year but can be paid monthly through your checking account.

#6 Disney will finance at a very high interest rate. You can arrange you own financing whether you buy direct or resale. I understand that the Timeshare Store can help you with financing.

#7 You simply buy contracts at 2 or more resorts. But be aware that if you have to combine points from 2 or more contracts for a vacation that can only be done at 7 months.

#8 Your home resort can be booked at 11 months. If you feel you NEED to stay at BLT, BCV or BWV at a certain time then you probably must own at those places. If you aren't picky about where you stay then it's probably better to own at a resort where you can get a better price and cheaper MFs and take your chances at 7 months.

#9 A point is a point with DVC. I own at both BLT and BCV and find that the point requirements are very close, both high, depending on accomodations, views and seasons.

Thank you everyone for your responses! I know absolutely nothing about this I just returned from WDW less than a week ago and DYING to go back! I figured if we had a DVC it would be more reasonable to go more than once a year. For DVC resorts, I like BWV and BCV so I would have to buy a resale. With that being said...Maybe I should hold out for the GFV.

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You can still buy BVC and BWV direct for $115 per point but the prices are going up to $130 pp on March 20. If you call now you can be locked in at $115 but will most likely be on a wait list. Resale is half this. Plus you really need to learn more about it all. Have you reviewed the point charts to see how many points you would need?

#7 You simply buy contracts at 2 or more resorts. But be aware that if you have to combine points from 2 or more contracts for a vacation that can only be done at 7 months.

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YOU CAN DO THAT?!? Let me make sure I understand...So If I buy 150 pts at BWV and 150pts at BCV and next year I decide that I want to get the grand villa, I can use all 300pts at BCV??? (obviously the pts amt is not the actual number for the GV).

You can still buy BVC and BWV direct for $115 per point but the prices are going up to $130 pp on March 20. If you call now you can be locked in at $115 but will most likely be on a wait list. Resale is half this. Plus you really need to learn more about it all. Have you reviewed the point charts to see how many points you would need?

GFV is rumored to cost $165 to $200 per point when sales start.[/QUOTE]

YOU CAN DO THAT?!? Let me make sure I understand...So If I buy 150 pts at BWV and 150pts at BCV and next year I decide that I want to get the grand villa, I can use all 300pts at BCV??? (obviously the pts amt is not the actual number for the GV).

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The short answer is yes. I currently have two homes, AKV and SS. My use year for both is December so it makes combining my points much easier. The catch is that I have to wait until 7 months before my trip to combine the points together. However, if I wanted to book a GV at my home resort at the 11 month mark, I can always borrow my points from the next year.

If my contracts had different use years, then I would have to get member services involved to transfer from one contract to the other in order to combine my points.

YOU CAN DO THAT?!? Let me make sure I understand...So If I buy 150 pts at BWV and 150pts at BCV and next year I decide that I want to get the grand villa, I can use all 300pts at BCV??? (obviously the pts amt is not the actual number for the GV).

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You may also want to look at www.tagrel.com. You can plug in dates and see what your point count would be for a specific vacation.
FYI: There are no grand villas at BCV, and about a week's stay in one at BWV is about 800 or so points...

You can combine your points at the 7 month mark only, and that's if you have them all under the same contract number. If you dont, then you'll have to do a transfer of points. You are allowed one transfer per use year...either in or out, not both.

I am sure these questions have been asked numerous times and I have looked through this thread/stickies and on the official DVC website and still confused...

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Welcome to the DVC boards! The questions you have posted are asked regularly so in addition to the replies posted here, look through the threads on this page and subsequent pages of this forum -- there is a LOT of great info posted here.

1. I am looking into buying a resale(Boardwalk or Beach Club).Most listings are for 150pts. With looking at the chart..If I wanted to do 2 vacations a yr at Boardwalk(1 week each) I would need 156pts(for the months I travel). Can I buy the additional pts?

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It looks like you are interested in 2 one-week stays in a BWV Standard Studio during Choice season. That will be difficult to get unless you own at BWV and book that stay 11 months out. You might find a few nights available 7 months out but not a full week. Your other options for two weeks for 156 points or less in Choice season are OKW or an AKV Value studio. AKV Value rooms are small in number and difficult to get unless you own at AKV and book them 11 months out.

You can borrow points from your next UY so if you own 150 points and need 156, you can borrow 6 points from the following UY. Then next year you would have 144 pts left so you would need to borrow 12 pts from the following UY. You could keep borrowing from the next UY for a while until you run out and have to take a year off.

DVC will sell you up to 24 one-time-use points to use when booking 7 months out, once per UY. However this is a relatively new option and could be taken away at any time. You can also transfer points into your account from another member, once per UY.

3. After I buy, how soon can I go on vacation?

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You can book a stay once you have closed on your purchase and have been entered into DVC's system, provided that the contract you purchase has points available for the Use Year in which you want to stay (or points that can be banked from an earlier Use Year or borrowed from the following UY). It can be hard to find availability once you are within a few months of your check-in date however. DVC is not good for last minute bookings.

5. Dues are always due on Jan 1 though right?

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You can pay for the entire year in January or pay as you go by monthly debits from a US-based checking account.

7. I have heard of having 2 "Home" Resorts, How do you do this?

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You can have as many home resorts as you like by buying contracts at more than one resort. If you want to book at a particular resort 11 months out, you need enough points from that resort to pay for your stay. You can bank and/or borrow points to accumulate enough points from a small contract to stay at that resort every other year or every third year. You can also have points transferred into your account from another owner and use those to book 11 months out. Ex: I don't own at BLT but if I had a BLT owner transfer me enough points for a reservation, I could use them to book BLT 11 months out.

8. What is the advantage of buying at your "Home" Resort? I know you can book a room at your home resort before anyone else, but is it worth it? Is it better to buy at a less expensive resort for more points and use the pts at my intended to stay at hotel?

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The advantage is that you can book 11 months out. If you want to save points and stay in a BWV Standard View room, then you need to book 11 months out so you either need to own at BWV or have BWV points transferred into your account from someone who does. The same is true for AKV Value and AKV Concierge and BLT MK View, for example.

YOU CAN DO THAT?!? Let me make sure I understand...So If I buy 150 pts at BWV and 150pts at BCV and next year I decide that I want to get the grand villa, I can use all 300pts at BCV??? (obviously the pts amt is not the actual number for the GV).

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BCV doesn't have Grand Villas. BWV does, but not many, so you would need to book 11 months out, meaning that you would need enough BWV points to pay for the reservation. By 7 months out (when you can use BCV points at BWV) the GVs will most likely be gone.

You could book as many nights as possible with your BWV pts 11 months out and try to add on additional nights at 7 months out with points from a resort other than BWV, but it's not too likely there will be any nights left to book at that point.

YOU CAN DO THAT?!? Let me make sure I understand...So If I buy 150 pts at BWV and 150pts at BCV and next year I decide that I want to get the grand villa, I can use all 300pts at BCV??? (obviously the pts amt is not the actual number for the GV).

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Yes, this can be done but only at the 7 month window. Or you could do a split stay between your resorts.

To book at 11 months you could use banking and borrowing and alternate years between BCV and BWV. You could even use 3 years at BWV to get a grand villa. To achieve this you would have to bank all of 2013 points, use all 2014 points and borrow 2015 points.

To combine points at 7 months, to make things easier, you must have your contracts titled exactly the same and have the same UY to have under 1 membership. Different UYs will have different membership numbers and will require a transfer.

There are times of the year that if you want a villa, any villa, at BCV or BWV, you need to book that at 11 months out, as soon as your booking window opens. There are only seven BWV Grand Villas, so those need to be booked at 11 months out exactly. BWView villas also are hot commodities.

Just because you have the points doesn't mean that what you want will be available when you are ready to book it.

So if you try to combine points at seven months out, you might be too late to get what you want.

You guys are great!!! Thank you so much for this information! I am really excited about this! Couple more questions:
Which do you prefer....BWV or BCV??
Which is closer to the walking path to Epcot?
Can you still get the DDP?
Do you still get the DME?
What is the cost for cleaning and towels while on vacation?

You guys are great!!! Thank you so much for this information! I am really excited about this! Couple more questions:
Which do you prefer....BWV or BCV??
Which is closer to the walking path to Epcot?
Can you still get the DDP?
Do you still get the DME?
What is the cost for cleaning and towels while on vacation?

THANKS AGAIN EVERYONE!!!

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BCV is closer to Epcot, but BWV is closer to DHS. Currently DVC members can add the dining plan, but not the premium plan, just the three - QS, standard and deluxe. DVC resorts still get DME.

You get to love no one coming into your villa every day. Especially when you have little ones that you want to put down for a nap and, darn, the housekeepers are in your room.

It's so easy to make the bed every morning, hang up the towels (or throw them into the washer if you want fresh ones - but only in one bedroom villas or larger - it's not as convenient in a studio).

Housekeeping
Trash & Towel Service
For stays of seven or less nights, Trash & Towel Service is provided on day four, regardless of whether you're using Member-discounted cash, Vacation Points or a combination of both.

Full Cleaning Service
For stays of eight or more nights, Full Cleaning Service is provided on day four and Trash & Towel Service is provided on day eight. After that, the cycle begins again on day 12, regardless of whether you're using Member-discounted cash, Vacation Points or a combination of both.

With Full Cleaning service, Housekeeping will provide everything included with the Trash & Towel Service, plus:

Change the bed linens.
Vacuum and dust the Vacation Home.
Clean the bathroom(s).
Clean the kitchen/kitchenette and wash the dishes.

Pay As You Play
With Pay As You Play service, you'll be provided with the following amenities free of charge at the start of your stay. After that, you may purchase more for the following fees:

You guys are great!!! Thank you so much for this information! I am really excited about this! Couple more questions:
Which do you prefer....BWV or BCV??

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We used to stay at YC so when we bought into DVC we were leaning towards BCV. However, we enjoyed having a lake view at YC and you cannot see the lake from BCV since it is behind the BC resort. We wanted the view more than we wanted access to SAB so we chose BWV for the Boardwalk View rooms. It also has the benefit that when we want a longer stay or are short on points we can book a Standard View room.

Contracts at BCV and BWV expire on Jan 31, 2042 which was fine with us due to our age. SSR, AKV and BLT have later expiration dates if that matters to you.

Which is closer to the walking path to Epcot?

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Measured from the lobby areas of each resort, BCV is maybe 5 minutes closer? BWV is a larger resort and some rooms are a long walk from the lobby so if your room was at the extreme end of BWV, that could add another 5-10 minutes to your walk to Epcot depending on how fast you walk and whether you walk inside the building or head down the stairs and take a more direct route.

Before we purchased, I read hundreds of threads in the DVC forums here on the DIS. There is a lot you should learn and understand before moving ahead with your purchase.